A Dallas constitutional law attorney says President Trump’s temporary ban on immigrants and refugees at airports nationwide is extreme, but not without historical precedent, according to a post published by Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

Issued Friday, the executive order prevents citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for three months. He also placed the U.S. refugee program on hold for four months. The order launched massive protests at airports in major cities across the country and brought attorneys together to offer free legal support to detained travelers.

But attorney David Coale of Lynn Pinker Cox Hurst says that presidents have conducted similar actions in the past:

“There is a very broad 1952 statute that lets the president suspend entry by classes of aliens for security reasons. But a 1965 statute imposes anti-discrimination limits on the executive branch in how it implements immigration policy. But beyond that, there is not a lot of case law to go. More modest bans have been allowed by courts, but with caveats that indicate they were thinking about a possibility such as this. Jimmy Carter did something vaguely like it in 1980 during the Iran crisis by requiring Iranians here on student visas to report to immigration officials, but it is a big leap from his limited action to this one. I think that once the temporary ban ends, however, the ‘extreme vetting’ in the current order will be DOA. The First Amendment prohibits government action that favors one religion over another, and the current executive order clearly does so by giving non-Muslims priority status.”

Donald Trump’s executive order Friday banning citizens of certain countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days blindsided the technology industry, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Reporter Tracey Lien writes that the industry had thought that its main battle on the immigration front was over the number of H-1B visas — granted to high-skilled foreign workers — that will be made available each year.

But now lawyers are fielding calls from worried tech workers with visas and green cards. And they’re having to adjust their advice to those clients as each day’s news comes out.

“For those abroad, we are telling them to come back as soon as possible, and be prepared to face questioning and possible refusal,” Los Angeles immigration attorney Ayda Akalin said.

Read the Los Angeles Times article.

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Reuters is pointing out that President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to take away funding from self-proclaimed sanctuary cities had one big exemption for one of his favorite constituencies: the police, who would be protected from cuts.

In the article, reporters Mica Rosenberg, Dan Levine and Andy Sullivan explain that it’s possible that very exemption makes it much more likely that a judge could strike down that section of the order as unconstitutional.

The article says: “The Trump administration cannot cut funds for sanctuary cities’ healthcare and education while preserving money for police, since those jobs relate more closely to immigration enforcement, said Richard Doyle, city attorney in San Jose, California. He said it was not clear whether existing federal funding or only future grants would be targeted.”

Read the Reuters article.

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Thomson Reuters Practical Law developed a legal update containing the full transcript of the keynote address given by Mary Jo White, former Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commssion, at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law’s 44th Annual Securities Regulation Institute.

She began her address with a brief look back over her tenure at the SEC, the agency’s effort to evolve with market technology, evolution with new financial products, evolving with new paths to capital formation, pursuingn strong enforcement and examinations, and a look at the SEC going forward.

Read the transcript.

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Legal advocacy groups seeking to challenge President Donald Trump in court over alleged conflicts of interest said filing lawsuits is part of a larger strategy to highlight their concerns and put political pressure on the White House, according to a Reuters report.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington contended payments to Trump’s businesses for hotel rooms and office leases run afoul of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, report Andrew Chung and Dan Levine. The clause forbids U.S. officeholders from accepting various gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.

“The American Civil Liberties Union is also preparing a lawsuit over Trump’s alleged violations of the emoluments clause, said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero,” the reporters write. “Beyond winning favorable rulings, cases can serve to ‘gum up the machinery of the government and rob the Trump administration of momentum,’ he said.”

Read the Reuters article.

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Dentons has published the latest edition of its “Government Contracts Legislative and Regulatory Update,” a summary of the relevant changes that took place during December.

Highlights this month include:

• President Obama signed into law legislation which extends and cements whistleblower protection for certain contractor employees
• FAR Council issues final rule amending the FAR in response to injunction of certain Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rules
• DoD issues class deviation regarding controversial IR&D costs rule
• FAR Council issues final rule mandating privacy training for contractor employees privy to PII

Read the update.

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A majority of chief legal officers at U.S. companies expressed optimism that their business operations will be positively affected when Donald Trump becomes president, according to a survey by legal market research firm Acritas.

The survey found 72 percent of respondents believe their business operations will be impacted as a result of Trump’s election, Bloomberg Law reports. Fifty-six percent of respondents expected Trump to affect their business in a positive way while 44 percent had a negative outlook.

“Most of the positive responses related to a perception that Trump will cut back on the rules and regulations many companies believe hold them back unnecessarily, said Lizzy Duffy, vice president of Acritas US Inc.,” according to the report.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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NBC News is reporting that about 18 million people would lose or drop their health insurance in the first year after Obamacare is repealed, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday.

“The nonpartisan federal agency also found that health insurance premiums would spike another 20 to 25 percent, according to the new report. Within 10 years, 32 million more people would be without health insurance, the CBO projects,” writes Maggie Fox.

The report’s projections are based on the repeal law passed in the House of Representatives last year, using a budget-based process called reconciliation, the same process that Congress is working on now.

Read the NBC article.

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Online lending companies are seeking to exert more influence in Washington under President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress, reports Bloomberg.

Lenders are joining lobbying groups working toward laws that will make it easier for them to attract new borrowers and investors as they look for ways to grow and limit future regulatory scrutiny, writes Elizabeth Dexheimer.

Among the groups she cited are the Marketplace Lending Association, consumer lenders Avant Inc. and Affirm Inc. ,as well as student lender CommonBond Inc., backed by former Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit. Founding members include LendingClub Inc. and Prosper Marketplace Inc., according to the report.

Read the Bloomberg article.

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Reuters is reporting that Japan’s Takata Corp is expected to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing as Friday as part of a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its handling of air bag ruptures linked to 16 deaths worldwide, sources said.

David Shepardson writes that the settlement includes a $25 million criminal fine and $125 million in victim compensation. He added that his sources told him the settlement also will include  $850 million to compensate automakers who have suffered losses from massive recalls.

“The company is poised to plead guilty to wire fraud, or providing false test data to U.S. regulators, according to the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the settlement publicly,” according to the report.

Read the Reuters article.

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Navex Global will present a free webinar discussing how a new administration and anticipated enforcement and regulatory changes will impact third party due diligence programs.

The event will be Thursday, Jan. 26, at 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST).

Topics will include:

• Potential impacts of the Trump administration on compliance
• Changes to FCPA enforcement approaches
• Disgorgement trends
• Yates Memo impacts
• Upcoming regulatory changes

Participants also will techniques and technology to help mitigate political and regulatory turmoil with a risk-based approach to modernizing due diligence.

Speakers will be Michael Volkov, CEO, Volkov Law Group, LLC; and Tim Morss & Chris Bailey, of NAVEX Global.

Register for the webinar.

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The exit package Exxon Mobil Corp. has agreed to pay Rex Tillerson if he’s confirmed as secretary of state is structured to preserve roughly $180 million in deferred compensation for him — and might let him avoid an immediate federal income tax bill of as much as $72 million, reports Bloomberg.

Reporter Lynnley Browning talked to tax specialists who have reviewed the plan.

“Under the plan, Exxon would make a cash payment into an independent trust managed by Northern Trust Corp. for Tillerson,” explains Browning. “In exchange, Tillerson, 64, would give up his rights to more than 2 million restricted shares and restricted stock units that haven’t vested yet.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

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It’s hard to predict exactly what President-elect Donald Trump wants in a new health care law, but a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is rapidly on track in Congress, according to a report published on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing. Dallas health care lawyer Jeff Drummond of Jackson Walker LLP, who represents doctors, hospitals and other health care facilities, has some predictions about what to expect:

“Repeal is almost entirely certain, and will be near immediate with the new Congress. It will be done using the same reconciliation technique that allowed ACA to pass in the first place, thus avoiding the filibuster and the need for 60 votes in the Senate.

“The changes likely will be phased in over time, with very few, if any, immediately repealed. That will allow the new Congress time to fashion replacement parts. And those replacement parts will mostly resemble the old law.

“For example, the new law will allow insured parents to keep their children on their policies until age 26. It also will likely preserve the ban on lifetime limits.

“The new law will drop the individual mandate to buy health insurance. But coverage for pre-existing conditions will be more like the portability requirement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). That law requires insurers to accept people with existing health problems only when they previously had coverage, such as from their current or former employer. So people with pre-existing health conditions now covered under individual policies through the ACA would be eligible for coverage under the new law, but individuals who did not previously have coverage would be subject to potential exclusion for pre-existing conditions.”

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Two of the nation’s largest credit reporting bureaus, TransUnion and Equifax, will together pay more than $23 million in fines and refunds to settle charges from a federal consumer watchdog that they misled consumers about the pricing and value of credit products, according to a Washington Post report.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the companies deceived consumers by suggesting that the credit scores they provided were the same scores used by financial firms to make lending decisions when in fact, the scores “were not typically used by lenders,” reports Jonnelle Marte.

Some of the companies’ products offered as free, or as costing $1, in fact incurred monthly charges adding up to almost $200 a year, the CFPB claimed.

Read the Washington Post article.

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Dismantling President Obama’s financial reform law is not a priority for President-elect Trump’s first 100 days, the author of GOP legislation to undo the law said Thursday, but it is a task for Trump’s first year, reports The Washington Examiner.

Jeb Hensarling, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he’s discussed ditching the law with Trump, writes Joseph Lawler.

“The president-elect committed to dismantle Dodd-Frank. It’s going to happen in the first year.”

Hensarling has said that some of the law could be dismantled through executive action and more could be undone using budget reconciliation.

Read the Examiner article.

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A recent decision in Perry Bartsch Jr., Constr. Co. v. Dept. of the Int., CBCA 4865, 5071 (December 8, 2016) helps contractors understand the scope and contours of a release of claims in a contract, reports Covington & Burling LLP in an article published in the firm’s Inside Government Contracts blog.

Chase Johnson and Justin Ganderson write that the case offers  important guidance about how to draft a release in an effective and narrow way, and the types of factors that the CBCA will consider when interpreting a release. Bartsch discusses the issue of whether an apparent global release of claims, contained in just one of many contract modifications, can extinguish all potential claims against the government.

The authors describe the case in detail and conclude with three points that contractors can consider to help ensure they are entering into a release that reflects their intention.

Read the article.

Bloomberg BNA will present a complimentary afternoon briefing on DOJ and SEC enforcement trends, new emerging risks, and recent cases that will keep attorneys ahead of the changing landscape, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, from 3:30-6 p.m., with a networking reception to follow.

The event is underwritten by EY and will take place at Bloomberg LP, 120 Park Ave., New York, NY 10165.

Lanny A. Breuer, the Vice Chair for Covington & Burling LLP and one of The National Law Journal‘s 100 most influential lawyers in America, will give a keynote interview at the event.

Experts will discuss:

• Navigating investigations in the new administration, including how to prepare for a pending investigation
• Recent cases and emerging areas of risk in 2017 and beyond
• Technology’s role in global investigations and how to leverage new technologies to implement fraud-prevention rules

Register for the event.

Eric Holder

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Democratic leaders of the California Legislature announced Wednesday that they had hired Eric H. Holder Jr., who was attorney general under President Obama, to represent them in any legal fights against President-elect Donald J. Trump, reports The New York Times.

“The decision by the Legislature to retain Mr. Holder, who is now a prominent Washington lawyer, is the latest sign of the ideological battle that may play out over the next four years between this predominantly Democratic state and Washington,” writes Adam Nagourney. “Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, defeated Mr. Trump by more than four million votes [in California].”

The report says Kevin de León, Democratic leader of the Senate, said he expected California to challenge Washington on issues including the environment, immigration and criminal justice.

Read the NYT article.

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Dentons has published the latest edition of its “Government Contracts Legislative and Regulatory Update,” a summary of the relevant changes that took place during November.

Highlights of the report include:

• Compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2017 nears completion
• FAR Council issues a final rule requiring representation of contractor greenhouse gas emission disclosures
• BIS issues a final rule to remove arms embargoes against certain countries
• DoD proposes a rule that would increase contractors’ evaluated bid prices by including allowable IR&D expenses

See the complete report.

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Leading Republicans in Congress have vowed that even if they repeal most of the Affordable Care Act early in 2017, a replacement won’t hurt those now receiving benefits, reports NPR.

Reporter Julie Rovner  writes that Republicans will seek to ensure that “no one is worse off,” quoting House Speaker Paul Ryan. “The purpose here is to bring relief to people who are suffering from Obamacare so that they can get something better.”

“But that may be difficult for one big reason: Republicans have also pledged to repeal the taxes that Democrats used to pay for their health law. Without that money, Republicans will have far less to spend on whatever they opt for as a replacement.” writes Rovner.

Read the NPR article.

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